Dragons of Xanadu: Sculptures Discovered in Legendary City

The remains of three colorful dragon heads made of clay have been discovered in a huge palace in Xanadu, a city constructed by the grandsons of Genghis Khan.

The palace sprawls over 9,000 square meters (about 100,000 square feet), or nearly twice the floor space of the modern-day White House.Archaeologists have been excavating the palace, learning how it was designed and decorated.

The construction of Xanadu, known in China as Shangdu, started in 1256 at a time when the Mongol Empire, led by Möngke Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan), was in the process of taking over China. After Möngke Khan's death in 1259, his successor, Kublai Khan (also a grandson of Genghis), finished the conquest of China.Kublai had helped design Xanadu and when he became ruler he used the city as China's capital during the summer months.

"The site is composed of a palatial district, an imperial city and an outer city, containing remains of three layers of city walls, and occupies an area of 484,000 square meters [about 120 acres]," the archaeologists wrote in their report.

The palace where the dragon head was found sprawls over 9,000 square meters (about 100,000 square feet) of space.Credit: Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics

While Xanadu was occupied only briefly, being destroyed in 1368, it became a place of legend, its name romanticized in popular culture as a wondrous exotic place where one of the most powerful rulers in the world held court. The discovery of the dragon heads, and other remains from Xanadu, paints a picture of what the site looked like.

While the dragon heads are some of the most eye-catching finds at the palace, archaeologists also discovered a type of ramp called "mandao," meaning "path for the horses" in Chinese which allowed horses and vehicles access to the palace.

These ramps "would have been strongly connected to the pastoral way of life of the Mongols," the archaeologists wrote.

The ramps were important because horses and pastoral animals were an essential part of Mongolian life. Recent research suggests that an unusually wet climate in Mongolia helped these animals flourish in Genghis Khan's time, helping him and his successors conquer a vast amount of territory.

Archaeologists also found artifacts showing more of the rich colors that would have been seen by those who set foot in Xanadu at the time. These artifacts include the remains of a clayfish head whose body "is glazed yellow and green" with "bright and lifelike" scales, the archaeologists wrote.

Eave-end tiles and dripstones, "decorated with blue-and-yellow patterns in the shape of dragons or birds," were also found, the archaeologists said. Eave-end tiles and dripstones form part of the roof. Aside from being decorative the dripstones helped deflect rainwater.

Excavations were conducted at Xanadu in 2009 by a team from Inner Mongolia Normal University, the Inner Mongolian Institute of Cultural Relics, and the Archaeology and Inner Mongolian Institute for Cultural Relics Conservation. The team's report was initially published in Chinese in the journal Wenwu. It was translated into English and published in the most recent edition of Chinese Cultural Relics.

Dragon head

A colorful dragon head was found in a palace at Xanadu. Made of fine red baked clay, it has yellow, blue, black and white colors glazed on it. The head would have been attached to the end of a beam. Two other dragon heads like this were found in the excavations. This particular head was published in full color in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics)

Sprawling palace

The palace where the dragon head was found sprawls over 9,000 square meters (about 100,000 square feet) of space. That's almost twice the floor space of the modern-day White House. The top of one of the palace's platforms is seen here in this black-and-white image. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics)

Horse ramp

Archaeologists found that a special type of ramp allowed horses and vehicles to pass through the palace. The ramp is called mandao meaning "path for the horses." Shown here, a black-and-white image of one of these ramps. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics)

Colorful city

The artifacts the archaeologists found show some of the lively colors that would have decorated the Khan's palace. This image shows eaves and dripstones (the dripstones deflect rainwater). They are decorated in blue and yellow designs with images of dragons or birds. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics)

Fish head

Here, the remains of an artifact depicting a fish head, discovered in the palace at Xanadu. Decorated in glazed green and yellow colors the scales still survive. (Photo courtesy Chinese Cultural Relics)

Khan portrait

Kublai Khan helped organize the construction of Xanadu. He became Khan in 1260, and the city eventually became his summer residence and, in essence, China's capital during the summer months. This image shows a portrait of Kublai. (Image in public domain courtesy Wikimedia)

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Hans van Roon

About Me

My fascination for these subjects started in the '80 's by reading the book of Peter Hopkirk about the travels and explorations of Aurel Stein in Central Asia at the beginning of the 20th century.
Over the Silk Road through Central Asia, the Taklamakan Desert, Bokhara and Samarkand I arrived in the 13th century and followed the building of a world empire by Genghis Khan, his sons and grandsons.
His most famous grand son was Khubilai Khan and with him I ended in the Yuan Dynasty in the time when Marco Polo visited China and since than I never stopped reading again

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